The Blue Journal
by Maci A Lynn
Summary: There’s a new student at Prufrock Prepatort School! Set during Austere Academy, meet OCs as well as multiple POVs. Includes Quiglet and Kladora relationships!
1. chapter one

**I would like to mention that this is my first story so it may take some time for me to get the swing of things. If anyone has any helpful writing or uploading tips I would greatly appreciate that**

 **This story does NOT follow the storyline set up in the original ASOUE. While this story is set at the time of Austere Academy there are a few major differences. These being Quigley Quagmire being present as he was never "dead" and the lack of Count Olaf as he has not found the children yet. Another few characters, Maci (yes she is named after me thank you very much) and Lilly are introduced as well. Enjoy!**

 **Also it changes POV so watch for that starting in chapter 3.**

Chapter One

 _Maci_

I had been watching the dusty landscape slip past us as we drove for hours. My hand rested in Lilly's small grip, she was peacefully asleep. I carefully straightened the neat bows in her hair. As our parents had always said " _You must look the part to play the part and to play the part you must be the part"._ I'm not entirely sure what those words meant but it seemed wise and I trusted my parents more than anyone so I followed what I could understand of this phrase to a tee.

Oh how I missed them.

I had become distracted by the thought of them and when I looked back out the window, I found that we had finally arrived at what was to be me and Lilly's new residence, frankly I believe a school should never serve as a home as they are not homely at all, but I guess we wouldn't be actually sleeping in the school itself but in a dormitory nearby which did sound less bleak to a degree. Though, I'm still upset that mother and father had chosen to leave me and Lilly here if they were to disappear or pass, as they did. I lifted my baggage from the vehicle and as well as Lilly's small trunk. We begrudgingly made our way into the school and to administration.

The building was dark and gloomy, as I imagined it to be. The windows were foggy and the halls were quiet, I wondered where all the students were?

"Where are all the students?" It seemed Lilly was having the same thought process as me.

"You said there'd be lots of students to meet" She quietly whined. I ignored her, knowing her complaints would get us nowhere. After a long and tiresome walk we had arrived at the vice principal's office.

"What is that awful screeching?" Lilly covered her ears and moved behind me. I promptly knocked on the door, hoping the vice principal would hear the bangs over whoever is making that fowl sound. My knock was followed by a bang, cursing, silence, and then the click of the door lock.

It swung open and there stood a, well if i'm being completely honest, an awfully ugly, man.

"How dare you interrupt such a talented musician, hard at work!" I stood in awe. Music? All I heard was the sound of a sad middle aged man playing a broken violin. Well, that's exactly what it was I guess. He stood in the doorway. Wait? Was he asleep? Had he fallen a sleep standing here talking to me?

"CSKSK WHat is it you needed?" He snapped out of his brief nap. I held back laughter, he had fallen asleep standing in the doorway, in a matter of seconds! Lilly giggled from behind my leg.

"Me and my sister are new students here, Maci and Lilly Worthington." His face dropped, not in the he saw a ghost kind of way more in a why are you here please leave kind of way.

"Oh I see" He paused, moving back into his office.

"The new orphans." He practically snarled, startling me and my sister.

"Come in won't you!" Followed by a quiet mutter of "you're wasting my precious practice time." He really was rather rude.

"Well let's get right to it. As you have no parents. None at all! Hah!" He chuckled. "You'll being staying in our third installment of the orphan shacks, it has wonderful views of the desolate plains and, well, interesting inhabiting wildlife. I'm sure you will find it quite bearable. If you are late to class you will eat with your hands tied behind your backs. Mandatory recitals are every night please attend Worthingtons. You will be in be in class 1 with Mr. Remora Maci. And for the small one you may work as a secondary secretary alongside the baby. I hope you settle in nicely as I would not like to have to meet with you again ." With this he ushered us quickly back into the hall and before we knew it his door slammed behind us.

"A shack?"

"Secretary?"

"A baby?" Me and Lilly sat in awe. What a strange school this was indeed.

"Did I hear orphan shack?" A small girl with red ringlet curls rounded the corner, she wore a full pink dress and tap shoes.

"Um yes do you happen to know where it is, the vice principal didn't happen to tell us where to go?"

"Only cakesniffers know where the orphan shacks are! Except, sometimes other people do too! Like in the case of me! _Carmelitaaaaa."_ She sang her own name, I could already tell that she was one hundred percent a human headache.

"So is that a no?"

"Ugh you brain dead cakesniffers just follow me!"

She led us through the corridors and out a back door, we could spot the three small metal "shacks", I wouldn't even call them large enough to be a shack.

"This time my guidance will be free but make sure you bring a tip next time." She bowed and skipped, or rather, tap danced off. As me and Lilly drew closer we could hear muffled yells and bickering from the second shack in the row. I figured it was best left alone for now.

 **Sorry for the short chapter! The next should be coming out soon so stay tuned for chapter two the _The Blue Notebook._**


	2. chapter two

**I would like to mention that this is my first story so it may take some time for me to get the swing of things. If anyone has any helpful writing or uploading tips I would greatly appreciate that**

 **This story does NOT follow the storyline set up in the original ASOUE. While this story is set at the time of Austere Academy there are a few major differences. These being Quigley Quagmire being present as he was never "dead" and the lack of Count Olaf as he has not found the children yet. Another few characters, Maci (yes she is named after me thank you very much) and Lilly are introduced as well. Enjoy!**

 **Also, this chapter should be longer and pretty much all of them from here out!**

Chapter Two

 _Maci_

"Crabs!" Lilly yelped. Small crabs clambered about the floor. I grabbed Lilly closer and cautiously stepped into the small shack. They dispersed for a moment, giving me just enough time to hoist Lilly and our bags onto the stack of hay at the backside of the room. I screamed as I finally climbed out of reach of their pinchers and onto the stack of hay . I gasped.

"Well, this is a prediction."

"Predicament." I corrected her. She was only 5 years old but she enjoyed learning very much, as well as using big words, even if she wasn't using them correctly. I was proud of her, she wanted to be the best she could. I myself was more interested in art, though I prided myself on my vocabulary. I just think that you can find just as much, if not more, information in a single picture than in a textbook. I had a book where I kept all my precious drawings, I had been most recently sketching a picture of my mother, Lilly looks just like her. Speaking of my sister, she had already begun unpacking our few trinkets onto the shelf and setting our nonschool approved clothing into the bags and placing the bags in the corner. We had to change into our new uniforms, surprisingly enough they weren't nearly as strange or uncomfortable than I had imagined. The skirt was a bit large for my taste but I didn't, mind, I wasn't planning on finding a boyfriend at this school anyway. Friends obviously came first, but with the impression that Carmelita and Vice Principal Nero had already made I didn't know how plausible making friends would be. Maybe the occupants of the other orphans shacks would be more welcoming. Speaking of my new neighbors I realized that the yelling had died down. There were still whispers though, a lot of whispers. I leaned my ear up to the metal wall. Silence? Why is there silence?

Bang Bang Bang

I practically jumped in the air! The walls had vibrated against my head, frightening me.

"The door!" Lilly dismounted the bales, suddenly not phased by the crabs and swung open the door. A group of five- no six, children stood at our doorstep. I hadn't noticed the smallest, she looked near Lilly's age, a bit younger.

" Maci we have visitors! Visitors visitors!" She leaped up and down, causing the crabs to further disperse. I climbed off of the bales and met Lilly at the door. I quietly grabbed Lilly's hand and made sure we were a safe distance from whoever they were. One of them elbowed another boy, I had just noticed that they were indentical! They must be twins! He elbowed him again.

"Ah! Right, um, hi?" He stood there with a frightened smile. My eyebrows twisted into a confused v shape.

"Do you boys have a no social skills? Ugh." A tall girl scoffed and stepped to the front of the pack, pushing the twins out of her way. "My name is Violet Baudelaire and this is my brother Klaus and our baby sister Sunny." A equally tall boy in glasses gently waved and the small girl in his arms greeted us with a smile. Another boy stepped from the group.

"Well my name is Quigley Quagmire and this is my brother Duncan and sister Isadora." Duncan had been the confused one that previously spoke first, I believe, they just looked so similar!

"Twins?" I sheepishly asked.

"Triplets." The girl confidently replied. The group stood there staring at me for a moment waiting, what were they waiting for?

"Oh! How rude of me." I gasped "This is my sister Lilly and I'm Maci, um, Maci Worthington." I sounded like such a nerd! Maci um Maci Worthington, I mimicked in my head. I was already making a bad first impression!

"Well it's very nice to meet you Maci and Lilly." The girl, Violet, stood for a moment.

"We're your neighbors." Isadora, I think it was, finally added. I repeated the names in my head so I wouldn't mess them up. I had no clue which triplet was which though. I could figure that out later.

"Oh, like you live in the other-" I paused "orphan shacks?" They all let out a simultaneous sigh.

"Yes they are quite dreadful." Isadora or Violet did most of the talking so seeing Duncan speak up was a surprise, or was that Quigley?

"Do you have crabs as well?" I asked

"Yes but Violet has created an amazing light projection contraption that scares them away." Klaus was beaming with pride for his sister. "She's quite the inventor."

"Now Klaus, we cant just go around bragging about the things that we've done." She said blushing.

"Oh, it's quite alright." I said, trying to make her feel better.

"Yes, they do make a great team, with Violet's inventiveness and Klaus's brains." Isadora smiled, equally as proud of her friends. "I myself prefer things like poetry though." I grinned, they would be perfect for Lilly, it seems none of them shared my interests though, unless Duncan or Quigley had a passion for art, which I did not think was the case. I had forgotten about my sister bouncing at my side.

She whispered "Can I talk." I nodded in approval. " Oh I am so glad to meet you and you can be my friends and we can do friend things together and you all like to learn and I like to learn very much too and I'm just so excited." She talked faster than I thought was possible. She let go of my grip and ran to the group. Somehow her small arms managed to grab them all and pull them into a hug. They all laughed as she released.

"We are glad you are so excited, Lilly."

Quigley suddenly perked up, I think I've got who's who down by now, "Why don't we give you a tour if Carmelita hasn't yet."

"She has not." We replied

"Lucky you." Violet rolled her eyes just thinking about Carmelita. "Well, Sunny and I must get back to our latest invention." Violet took the toddler from her brother. "It was nice meeting you!" She made her way back to the first shack. Klaus and Isadora gave each other a look.

"Well, we're going to... go and-" Isadora giggled staring at him.

"Ew, just go already." Duncan scoffed.

"And bring her back early!" Quigley yelled as the pair practically skipped off. "So I guess you're stuck with us two." The two grinned. Despite them being near identical Duncan was by far the cuter twin to me, he held himself differently I suppose, not that he was more confident, maybe just more lively I guess? I could have slapped myself at that moment because I was already falling back into my boy crazy ways. That's when I realized I'd been staring at Duncan, like an idiot!

"Maci? You ok?" I snapped back to where I was. Quigley held in a giggle while Duncan turned bright red. He quickly turned and began guiding us to a large building. I'm such a nerd, I sighed.


	3. chapter three

**I would like to mention that this is my first story so it may take some time for me to get the swing of things. If anyone has any helpful writing or uploading tips I would greatly appreciate that**

 **This story does NOT follow the storyline set up in the original ASOUE. While this story is set at the time of Austere Academy there are a few major differences. These being Quigley Quagmire being present as he was never "dead" and the lack of Count Olaf as he has not found the children yet. Another few characters, Maci (yes she is named after me thank you very much) and Lilly are introduced as well. Enjoy!**

Chapter Three

 _Duncan_

The new girl arrived this morning in the middle of one of me and Quigley's daily arguments. I think I said he was the uglier of us triplets and that sparked a whole argument that ended in yelling and fighting as usual but that's not the point.

"Guys, would you shut up?" Violet urged.

"But he-"

"I said shush!"

"But Vi-"

"Quiet you two! She's here!" Isadora whispered. We all immediately went silent and tried our best to see her through the cracks of our shack. We heard a scream of a young girl.

"The crabs!" We all said in unison.

We quickly filed out and made our way next door. Sunny knocked three times on the door, making the whole structure wobble. I heard a thump inside and the sound of someone scrambling back up. It swung open greeting us with a small girl. She had perfect blonde pigtails in neat ringlet curls with bows tied to each. She like a small and sweet Carmelita, like she was Carmelita's sister if Carmelita was a bee and her sister was honey. She began yelling to her actual sister.

"Maci we have visitors! Visitors visitors!" That's when I saw her, a girl quite similar to our age joined the young girl at the door. I couldn't help but drop my jaw. She had curly blonde hair that bounced when she moved and big green eyes that sparkled like glitter, or maybe a green ocean, except green oceans aren't really a thing. She had dimples and freckles and everything else that made a girl absolutely perfect. That's when Quigley elbowed me. I was in a trance though, not even Quigley could break, well maybe he could, but it did take a whole two jabs to the side to break it so I'll say close enough. The others had put me in charge of introducing ourselves, but suddenly, I was utterly speechless.

"Ah! Right, um, hi?" That was the best I could do, I sounded like a total idiot!

"Do you boys have a no social skills" Violet pushed me out of the way, blocking my view of them. "My name is Violet Baudelaire and this is my brother Klaus and our baby sister Sunny." I tried to scoot out from behind Violet to see her again, just looking at her was enough to make butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"Well my name is Quigley Quagmire and this is my brother Duncan and sister, Isadora." I pushed Violet aside and smiled, hoping she'd notice me.

"Twins?" She asked. If only I and Isadora were just twins, though she was probably talking about me and Quigley as we were nearly identical, though I personally knew I was much better looking.

"Triplets."

"Oh! How rude of me." Finally, she realized that we have no clue who she is though she knows who we are. "This is my sister Lilly and I'm Maci, um, Maci Worthington." I had never heard a name more perfect. I wanted to say it over and over for the rest of my life. Isadora and Violet continued to babble on, ugh they're always stealing the show. They talked about boring things like the crabs and the shacks, but I wasn't really paying attention. I just wanted them to stop talking about us and start talking about her. Who was she? Where was she from? I was completely spaced out, and to be honest, I forgot about her sister Lilly until she began speaking.

" Oh I am so glad to meet you and you can be my friends and we can do friend things together and you all like to learn and I like to learn very much too and I'm and just so excited." She talked quicker than I thought was possible. Suddenly she was pulling us all into a warm hug. I think I was right about the honey analogy.

"We are glad you are so excited, Lilly."

"Why don't we give you a tour, if Carmelita hasn't yet." Quigley finally interjected. This was probably one of Quigley's few good ideas in his lifetime. Spending more time with her! That would be amazing!

"She has not." The sisters both replied. Oh thank god, i thought, I wouldn't subject anyone to Carmelita's torture.

"Lucky you. Well, Sunny and I must get back to our latest invention." Violet took Sunny from Klaus and started back to her shack. "It was nice meeting you!"

"Well, we're going to... go and-" Isadora giggled and looked at Klaus. God, I can't stand those two! I already hate having to see my sister around him all the time but they're just so lovey-dovey, ugh.

"Ew, just go already." I couldn't stand to look at that pair any longer, god I hope that ends really soon.

"And bring her back early!" Quigley yelled.

"So I guess you're stuck with us two." I shot her another smile. She suddenly spaced out staring me dead in the eyes. Quigley's eyebrows furrowed. What was she doing?

"Umm, what's wrong with her?" He asked.

"Maci? You ok?" She suddenly blinked back into focus. I felt my face turn crimson as Quigley suppressed laughter, which he's not very good at.

"Well, let's go then," I said turning as quickly as I could to avoid her gaze. Why had she been staring so intently at me? A girl that pretty has never noticed me!


	4. chapter four

**I would like to mention that this is my first story so it may take some time for me to get the swing of things. If anyone has any helpful writing or uploading tips I would greatly appreciate that**

 **This story does NOT follow the storyline set up in the original ASOUE. While this story is set at the time of Austere Academy there are a few major differences. These being Quigley Quagmire being present as he was never "dead" and the lack of Count Olaf as he has not found the children yet. Another few characters, Maci (yes she is named after me thank you very much) and Lilly are introduced as well. Enjoy!**

 **Also, it changes POV so watch for that starting in chapter 3.**

 **The POV switches are not any pattern. Some may retell something that happened from a different view and some may just continue the story from a different** **perspective, so watch carefully for who is narrating and** **what is happening**.

Chapter Four

 _Maci_

I tried my best to forget about how awkward I had been as we began making our way over to the large building that I had walked through previously. I believed we were entering through the back this time so maybe I'll see something I hadn't on me and Lilly's walk to the Vice Principal's office. The halls were quiet but I assumed that would be the case because it was a Sunday and Prufrock Preparatory school does not have classes on Sundays or Thursdays. I had heard of many schools having weekends off before but I had never heard of Sundays and Thursdays. I won't complain though because a day off is a day off. Walking through the halls and passing by classrooms in silence I realized that I needed to find Mr. Remora's room for tomorrow.

"We'll go to the cafeteria first." Quigley turned to look at me. "Is that ok?"

"Ok but can we stop by Mr. Remora's room first, so i'm not lost tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah I forgot about your classroom, does Lilly have a teacher as well?" Lilly frowned, reminded of her disappointment.

"Well no, she can't start school until next year but for now she's helping as a secretary alongside some baby."

"Sunny." Quigley said without turning.

"What?"

"The baby's name is Sunny, Violet and Klaus's younger sister Sunny."

"Oh." My voice fell. "I didn't know and I didn't mean it to be rude at all."

Duncan gave Quigley a stern look and turned back to me. "It's ok Sunny is more of a toddler than a baby anyways. He took a step back and lowered his voice. "I think Quigley is in a grumpy mood today, he and Violet are fighting so don't worry about it." This made me feel a bit better but it also made me curious about Violet and Quigley but I figured I wouldn't push things and be curious.

"I heard that Duncan." Quigley huffed and continued waking faster down the hall. Me and Lilly giggled. Watching identical twins, or I guess triplets minus one, fight is funnier than you'd think, it's like one person fighting with them self. I don't really know how to describe it but if you ever meet a pair of twins, or triplets, you'll know what I mean. We stopped in front of a door at the corner of the hall.

"This is Mr. Remora's room, he mostly tells stories and I wish we could try something like math or science every once in a while but don't get your hopes up." Duncan sighed. "I have him, Violet will be in our class too." He added.

"Across the hall there is Mrs. Bass's room, Isadora, Klaus, Quigley have her. Some people say she robbed a bank but I don't really know about that." Duncan explained. Quigley promptly began walking straight down the hall, still grumpy and ready to move on with the tour. Duncan lowered his voice, "He wants me to switch classes with him so he can be with Violet but I don't want to pretend to be him everyday so we can switch and I also wouldn't want to subject you to a whole semester of him and Violet." Duncan whispered. "They're best kept apart, far, far, apart."

We stopped in the cafeteria as well as the sports fields and a few other places.

"Is that a library?!" Lilly practically began jumping up and down when she saw the door labeled library as we turned a corner on our way back to our shacks.

"Yes but it's only open for a few minutes a day and i'm sure it's closed right now."

"Why's is it only open for a few minutes."

"Nero." Quigley and Duncan both sighed in unison.

"We can't even go in for a quick look?" Lilly whined.

"We can ask Miss. Caliban but i'm sure if we get caught all four of us will be in a mountain of trouble." We quietly opened the door to the library and wandered in. It was quiet and only dusty light lit up the room from the large window in the back.

"Children!" A tall woman popped up from behind a cart of book with a smile on her face. Her smile suddenly dropped. "I'm sorry but the library is closed right-" She stopped and looked at both me and Lilly, confused. "I don't think I've ever seen you two around here before."

"They're new." Quigley interjected.

"Oh how wonderful, my name is Miss Caliban but you can call me Miss C if you would like.!"

"It's nice to meet you Miss Caliban, my name is Maci and this is my sister Lilly, Worthington." I quietly added Worthington to the end.

Her expression fell into a frown. "I'm so sorry about your parents girls, I've heard all about this awful occurrence in the papers" She nodded solemnly. Hearing her mention them almost brought tears to my eyes. It was silent for a moment as I tried to contain my sadness.

"We were hoping to show them around a bit if that's alright?" Quigley shifted awkwardly.

"That would be wonderful, Vice Principal Nero shouldn't be making his rounds for another 15 minutes so we have a bit of time to spare." Lilly looked up at me with puppy dog eyes, I remembered what she had asked in the car about the school library. oh

"My sister Lilly was curious if you had a children's section, she's just learning to read?" Miss Caliban beamed.

"Ah yes! We do! Follow me Lilly. If it's alright I'll help her find a good book for someone her age. You children can look around in the meantime." I hadn't seen Lilly so happy since our parents were still around. She ran to Miss Caliban's side and followed her to a colorful corner of the library.

"Well I'll go look around I guess." I wasn't a big fan of libraries but they probably had some books on art somewhere around her.

"Ok we'll wait here then." The boys sat down on a long brown bench and began chatting. I made my way towards the shelves of books. Biographies? No. I passed by some books on cooking, but that wasn't my thing either. Architecture? Closer but not quite. Finally I stumbled upon a shelf towards the back with some books that seemed interesting. Some were about art in the middle ages and some about the use of sculptures and metal work in Roman times. I figured the one about painting and drawings during the renaissance seemed interesting enough so I began flipping through. I couldn't believe that people were able to create these beautiful masterpieces, I could only dream of being that talented. A voice from behind me broke my concentration.

"Hey." I jumped and dropped the book to the ground, toppling over myself in the process. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Duncan quickly picked up my book and helped me to my feet.

"Oh that's alright, you just took me by surprise that's all." I straightened my skirt and reached to take back my book. He was already flipping through.

"So you like art huh?"

"Uh yeah kinda, I guess?"

"That's cool."

"Can I have the book back?" He continued to ignore me and kept flipping through.

"Do you like draw anything of your own?" He finally closed the book and stared at me.

"Oh not really." I shifted uneasily, I wasn't sure why I was lying. I guess most people want to see your drawings when you say you draw and anyone who draws knows that they don't really like people seeing their drawings unless they are very good and I'm not very good

"Oh." He handed me the book. "You should try." Thats when the door to the library swung open. Miss Caliban gasped from the back of the room.

"This library should be CLOSED." Vice Principal Nero shouted. Duncan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He grabbed ahold of my shoulder and pulled me farther behind the bookcase. He held a finger to my mouth.

"It is closed sir." Miss Caliban slowly rose from behind a bookcase.

"Then what is this boy doing here?" Vice Principal Nero snarled angrily a grabbed ahold of Quigley's ear.

"Ouch. Ow. Ow." Quigley stepped off from the bench and followed Nero to Miss Caliban, wincing. I leaned out a bit to see Lilly hiding behind one of the other bookshelves, calmly reading a book on the life-cycle of ladybugs, of course she was reading in a time like this. Duncan pulled me back in.

"Are you TRYING to get caught." He yell whispered.

"But what about Quigley, is he just gonna be the only one to get in trouble."

"He'll live, we don't need to take the fall too." I felt guilty but I guess Duncan was kinda right. Nero continued to argue with Miss Caliban. I opened my mouth to say something again but Duncan was quick to recover it with his hand.

"I said shush!" He put his arm on the other side of me to make sure I wouldn't go out and try to do the right thing. Maybe that was a smart move because I was planning on sliding out that way and trying to help lessen Quigley and Miss Caliban's punishment. I turned myself best I could to not be so close to his face, and his eyes. I could get lost in those eyes. They were big and green, no brown, I'm not totally sure, hazel maybe? But that's besides the point. I did my best to watch the argument through the cracks in the bookcases.

I felt my journal slip out of the waistband of my skirt. Now it may sound crazy to keep your journal in your waistband, but any girl who has ever worn girl pants or a skirt knows that if there are even pockets in the first place, they don't hold anything, the waistband is the next best thing. I turned to pick it up but I realized that Duncan already grabbed it. What was with this kid and taking stuff that isn't his?

"Hey give that back." I hissed.

"Is it like your diary or something." He frowned.

"No it's not my diary! Just give it!"

"So if it's not your diary I can read it?"

"No that's not what I said." He opened it quickly and had already begun fingering through all the drawings I had done over the last few years.

"You told me you didn't draw." He seemed disappointed kind of.

"Ok, so I kinda draw, but that doesn't matter give it back!" He continued flipping until he reached my most recent drawing.

"Who's this?" He lingered on the page for a moment and I immediately knew which one he was looking at. Tears started welling up and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I was embarrassed and thinking about my mom sent me over the edge.

"Oh." He realized who the woman in the picture was and quietly closed the book. "Look Maci I'm really sorry." He handed me my journal. I held it close to my chest for a second. He backed away and put his arms back to his side. " I really didn't mean to- I mean you're really good and you shouldn't be embarrassed." He stood awkwardly. "I'm sorry for asking about the drawing."

"It's ok." I sniffed and wiped away the tears, my eyes were puffy and my lip still shook.

"She looks like Lilly you know?" He was looking down, avoiding my eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Your mom."

"Oh." I felt a smile creep back up as I leaned out to look at Lilly. "I guess she really does look like her."


	5. chapter five

**(This is the last time I will include this message) This story does NOT follow the storyline set up in the original ASOUE. While this story is set at the time of Austere Academy there are a few major differences. These being Quigley Quagmire being present as he was never "dead" and the lack of Count Olaf as he has not found the children yet. Another few characters, Maci (yes she is named after me thank you very much) and Lilly are introduced as well. Enjoy!**

 **Also, it changes POV so watch for that starting in chapter 3.**

 **The POV switches are not any pattern. Some may retell something that happened from a different view and some may just continue the story from a different perspective, so watch carefully for who is narrating and what is happening. (Most will be from the perspective of Maci though.)**

 **Also, thank you so much for the reviews and follows, etc. that this story has gotten so far, I'm grateful for even just a few! Keep reviewing I love reading them! Also sorry for not posting for so long i've been super busy but there will be more chapters soon.**

Chapter Five

Maci

After a bit of bickering between Miss Caliban and Nero, he settled on 3 bags of candy from Quigley as punishment. Without a doubt it was the weirdest punishment I've ever heard but I guess it could be worse. Miss Caliban was let off with a warning, which was a relief because she had been very kind to let me and Lilly look around. Once we heard the door shut and the sound of Quigley's winces fade off as Nero dragged him down the hallways by his ear, Duncan and I cautiously stepped out from behind the shelf. Miss Caliban returned to the back where Lilly was sitting, still reading.

"Would you like to borrow that sweetie?" Lilly nodded vigorously. Miss Caliban pulled out 2 notecards, each with a small smiley face on the blank side. She grabbed a flower pen from her desk and scribbled our names on each. "I'm not much of an artist and the budget is pretty much non existent so these will have to be your library cards." She handed me and Lilly the small slips and ushered Lilly back to the children's section to pick out more books.

"You could make better library cards." Duncan grinned at me.

"They're perfectly fine." I knew where this could be going, and I was not interested.

"Miss Caliban Maci would love to make some new library cards for you! She's quite the artist!" I shot him an angry glare, did he want me to hit him? We only just met and he's already pushing all my buttons. Maybe if he wasn't so cute I'd sock him, wait, ugh there I go again. What is wrong with me? I swore I'd not go after any boy at this school, it had ended poorly every time at my other school. Maybe I should be socking myself and not him.

"That would be wonderful!" Miss Caliban hopped up and clapped giddily. Lilly peeked out from behind her with a mountain of books larger than herself. I quickly ran over and took a portion of her stack. "If you can make me some more sufficient library cards I'm sure I can overlook the 3 book checkout limit for Lilly." She winked at my sister and led us out the door. "It was so nice seeing you again Duncan and it was a pleasure meeting you girls, I hope you have a wonderful first day tomorrow, tell me how Quigley is doing when you come by next time, I hope Nero isn't too hard on the poor boy. With that the door swung shut and we stood in the hall with 2 mountains of books. Miss Caliban hummed from behind the door as she returned to her daily tasks. Duncan quickly took off a few books from both me and Lilly's piles. We all sort of waddled down the halls. Lilly talked on and on about all the books she got and me and Duncan faked interest, I was just glad she was happy and getting an education. I pushed on the door with my side until it popped open, we shooed the crabs away and formed a neat stack of books in the corner. I wiped away the dust from the books onto my skirt and relaxed, you don't realize how heavy something is until you aren't holding it anymore. I looked through the crack in the roof as I fell back onto the hay.

"It's already dark, how did that happen." I yawned and sat back up. "Thanks for the help Duncan, sorry about Quigley."

"It's no problem, and I'm sure he'll live, sleep well Worthingtons. "He lingered in the doorway, for a moment before turning and heading back to his shack. I was exhausted from the excitement of the day but laying on hay with no blanket or pillows in the freezing cold darkness isn't very comforting. Lilly had immediately fallen asleep next to me. I unbuckled her shoes and set them on the floor with mine. I took this time to survey what we received from the school upon arrival. We got 3 sets of uniforms, black buckle shoes for Lilly and white sneakers for myself, and 3 sets of matching of gym clothes. We had the necessary things like soap as well. Not much in the way of pajamas. Maybe I could find a way to save some money to go into town and buy some more things for me and Lilly. I then remembered the pajamas in our bags but I was too tired to cross the room, besides, I didn't want to wake Lilly. I rolled over and tried my best to sleep. I tried my best to forget where I was. I tried my best to forget the crabs and the principal and Carmelita and everything that was wrong about this school. I tried my best to forget that our parents sent us here thinking it was best for us. I tried my best to forgive them for that. I laid there for hours it seemed like.

Duncan

"It's already dark, how did that happen." Maci yawned and sat back up from the hay. "Thanks for the help Duncan, sorry about Quigley."

"It's no problem, and I'm sure he'll live, sleep well Worthingtons." I stood in Maci's doorway, knowing I should leave because I had just said goodbye and they needed sleep but I couldn't help it, I knew Maci was hurting and I knew that this place was awful, I wished she could be back home and safe, even though I was so glad I got to meet her I wished that I didn't and that her and precious Lilly could be back home where they were safe. I couldn't tell her this though, so I turned and left for my own shack. Isadora had a candle lit and she was writing in her journal at the desk violet had made for us. I set down my bag and climbed onto our make shift bed.

"Quigley is staying at Violet's tonight."

"Oh." Often times Quigley would stay with Violet when he was mad at me, Violet had created a loft in their shack for her and Sunny. Their shack was by far the best because of this, Violet had made a lot of renovations. But when Quigley stayed over Sunny slept with Klaus and Quigley and Violet shared the loft. Those nights it was usually pretty quiet without me and Quigley's fighting. I think Isadora appreciated when it was quiet because she could get more done in her writing. That night I just couldn't sleep no matter what I did. I hoped Maci and Lilly had brought blankets, we stole ours from the supply closets. They were probably freezing to death without them! I heard someone stirring for hours moving the hay and rolling around, I assumed they couldn't sleep. It would be nice if I brought them blankets wouldn't it? I didn't want them to be exhausted on their first day. Isadora was still up writing so I told her to go to bed and that I'd be back in a little bit. I rounded up the extra blankets and pillows that we kept on the shelves and slipped my shoes back on.

Maci

After laying there for what seemed like an eternity I was rudely awakened by a loud banging on my door, well it wasn't really loud, it was quite timid actually, I was just so tired. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and made my way to the door. Who could be up at this hour?

"Duncan?!" I asked my eyes wide with surprise. I immediately felt self conscious, I was currently a bit of a mess to be fair. I quickly smoothed my hair and straightened my skirt, hoping to look less un put together, my makeup was probably smeared all over, but it was very late so who really cares. I mean obviously I did care or I wouldn't be doing this.

"I came to give you these, it sounded like you couldn't sleep and uh... it's pretty cold." He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. I graciously accepted, these would be wonderful!

"Thank you so much Duncan, that's really kind of you."

"Try to get some sleep." He smiled a kind of sad smile.

"Can't sleep either?" I asked. He nodded brushing the dirt with the tip of his shoe, standing in silence for a moment. He suddenly looked up, from what I had seen of him he was pretty much always smiling, but this face was completely different.

"Do you ever think they could still be out there?"

"Who?" I asked, though I knew quite well what he meant.

"You know, your parents." He clarified. I looked back at Lilly, still sleeping soundly.

"Do you wanna talk outside?" I asked, I didn't want to wake her.

"Oh no you should sleep, it was rude of me to ask, i'm sorry. I have no clue what I was thinking."

"No!" I said a little too suddenly, like I was begging to keep talking. "I won't sleep anyways." I chuckled. I was now the one staring at my feet.

"Well alright then." He agreed. I half smiled and quietly shut the door, making sure Lilly was still sound asleep. We began walking, I don't think either of us knew where we were going.

"And well, I sometimes do, or did I guess?" I finally answered.

"Sometimes do what?"

"Wonder if they're out there." I said solemnly.

"Oh." I had never really told anyone this, I mean who would I have told anyways. But I do wonder if they will ever be found.

"The first few months while me and Lilly were living with our Aunt, when they were like looking, I always thought one day they'd just come back. Like one day they'd just walk through the front door and then the news papers would say Worthingtons FOUND instead of MISSING. It was kind of unrealistic, but maybe not? After a while I kind of gave up, I figured someone had to look after Lilly. I still think maybe one day they will. Maybe." I hadn't even realized how much I was saying, I had just met this boy after all! My face was covered in tears, I hadn't even realized I was crying. We had walked all the way to the athletic fields. He stopped as soon as I was done talking.

"Maci there's nothing wrong with that. I often think the same. You can't feel bad for that." I sniffed, trying to pull myself together.

"Th-thanks." I wiped tears away with my sleeve. I stood for a moment trying to suppress my crying. But I just couldn't. "I just miss them so much and- and." I was jumbling all my words and sobbing like an idiot. "I'm not ready to be a mom for Lilly and." Before I could get out another word I felt arms pull me into a tight hug. I hesitated for a moment but it was so comforting so I embraced it. We stood there, him holding me for probably too long, I was soaking the shoulder of his blazer with my crying.

"Maci, you'll always have them, I'm sure they are thinking about you, wherever they are." He was right, I was being kind of overdramatic, I don't think that was what he was saying, but still, I was. It also suddenly occurred to me that I was clinging to a boy I met hours earlier. But he was warm and safe and I didn't ever want to move. He smelled like a boy, but not in the bad kind of way, in the good kind of way. I wiped away my tears and backed away, not wanting to hold on for too long and make myself look like even more of a loon. He gave me a sort of nod and we made our way back, silence was actually exactly what I needed for once, though I wouldn't mind him talking. We reached my door and as I was about to say goodbye he added in one last thing.

"Maci, you don't have to be her mom, no one expects you to, you are doing perfectly enough as her sister, and that's all she needs." I smiled, taking his advice to heart. "Goodnight Maci, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Duncan." I slept the rest of the night, somewhat at peace now, maybe the blankets also helped.


End file.
